Daniel p



(No Model.) v

, D. P. PRESCOTT.

GAR BRAKE} N0 .256;160. Patnted A r.11,1882. I

"mu y UNITED STATES PATENT @EETCE.

DANIEL P. PRESCOTT, OF VERNON, VERMONT.

CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,160, dated April 11, 1882,

Application filed September 6, 1881. (No model.)

' citizen of the United States, residing at Verattached to rod D.

non, 1n the county of Windham and State of Vermont, have invented new and useful linproveuients in Gar-Brakes, of which thefollowin g is a specification.

This invention relates to the details of the construction of car-brakes adapted to be operated by the movement of the draw-bar, the object being to so connect the brake-beams with the draw-bar that the rear movement of the latter may be utilized to either apply or throw off the brakes, and its outward or forward movement be utilized to applythem, ifneed be.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figurel is a side elevation, partly in section, of one end and one truck of a car having brake devices applied thereto according to my invention. Fig.2 is a perspective view,

partly in section, of the brake-beams of a car and the principal improved brake devices dotached from the car; and Fig. 3 is a view of the upper end of the brake-lever.

In the drawings, A is the car. (I is the drawbar. c is a boss on draw-bar d. c is a serrated pawl-arm. bis the brake-lever. w a; are the brake-beams. t t are the brake-lever connecting-bolts in said beams. 0 0 are springs on bolts 1?. D is a brake-rod. s is a ring split and pivoted to one end of rod D. t'is a lifting-chain n is a lifting-chain attached to the pawl-arm 0, and a is a draw-chain connecting lever b with draw-bar d.

The construction of the draw-bar d is of the ordinary description, except that it is provided with the boss 0 to furnish convenient means for attaching certain brake-operating devices thereto, as below set forth, and the ordinary movements of said draw bar longitudinally under the car are caused to operate the brakes, putting them on and 0E atthe pleasure of persons in charge of the train of cars.

The pawl-arm c is pivoted to the boss 6 on the draw-bar, and consequently moves longitudinally with the latter, and its lower edgeis serrated, as shown. A ehainm, is attached to the free end of said pawl'arm c and runs up over a roller hung under car A, and thence to the end of the latter and up to a convenient point near the roof, so that it may be easily reached by brakemen or others.

The brake -1ever I) is pivoted to one of the brake-beams x by the bolt t, a spring, 0, which may be a spiral metallic one or of rubber, being interposed between the head of said bolt and said beam. Said lever b has a bifurcated upper end, forming a vertical slot therein, in

which the pawl-arm 0 lies, as shown, and is lever b by the loop-ring s, which encircles the edge e on said lever, and is pivoted to said ring by a bolt, which passes through the flanges on said loop-ring and the end of said rod therebetween. The opposite end of rod D is secured to the rear brake-beam by a bolt, 25.

A lifting-chain, i3, is attached to the brakerod D near the brake-lever I), and, like chain a, above described, runs up over proper guiderollers to the roof of the car, where it can be reached by persons in charge of the train.

The normal position of the brake'devices is that shown in Fig. 1 while the car is at rest, the brake-shoes m han gin g away from the wheels of the car. \Vhen a train is made up, however, and is sent out upon the road, the draw-bar (I will be drawn out from under the car a certain distance, sliding the serrated edge of the pawl-arm 0 along in the slotted end of the brake-lever b, and when the engineer desires to slack the speed of the-train and applies the brakes to the locomotive the cars will crowd toward the engine with great force, pushing the draw-bars in, and the serrated edge of arm 0 being engaged with the end of lever b when the draw-bar moves rearward said lever is swungback,causing the brakes to be forcibly applied to the wheels with all the power that the impetus of the train supplies, and a consequent slackening of the speed thereof. When the train is backed, if the position of the brake parts he unchanged from that shown, the brakes will be applied and stop the train but under these circumstances the end of the brake-rod D which is connected with the brake-lever]; is lifted up quite to the opposite end of slot '0 in said lever by drawing on chain z, so that the rearward movementof the upper end of lever 1) produces quite the opposite effeet from that just described and causes the brake-beams to swing away from the wheels. Thus the train may be backed unobstructed by the brakes. If the end of rod D next to lever I) be raised and held opposite the bolt 1, on which said lever swings, the swinging of said lever in either direction will produce no effect upon the brakes.

The spring 0 is made sufficiently heavy to resist the necessary strain put upon bolt t when the brake-shoes m are drawn against the wheels with as much force as the brake parts should be safely subjected to without danger of breaking, and when an excess of said force is applied said spring will be compressed and prevent damage to the parts in consequence thereof.

\Vhen it is desired to apply the brakes while the train is moving forward by tension upon the draw-bar the end of rod D is elevated by drawing on chain 2', as aforesaid, and as the draw-bar slides out the upper end of lever b is carried in the same direction through its connection with the draw-bar through the chain a.

By the use of the above-described construc tion of brake-operating parts and means for reversing the effects of the inertia of the train, so that it may cause the brakes to be applied or thrown off, provision is made whereby the whole train may be under the control of the engineer by making suitable connections between the engine and the chainst' and n, so that all of the changes which are made by operating said chains, as herein set forth, may be Worked by the engineer.

Instead of raising the end of rod D, as aforesaid, when it may be desired to back the train and not have the brakes thereby applied, said rod may be left at its lowest position, and the pawl-arm 0 may be lifted away from engagement with lever (1 instead, so that the rearward movement of the draw-bar would have no elfect upon said lover; also, by lifting arm 0, as above mentioned, away from the end of lever b the brakes are left quite free from any action which might otherwise be caused by the movement of the drawbar, except the one above named, whereby the end of said lever is carried with the draw-bar in one direction, drawn by chain a.

What I claim as my invention isi 1. In a car-brake, the combination, with the draw-bar d and the brake-beams or m, of the serrated arm 0, pivoted to said draw-bar, the brake-lever b, and the brake-rod D, and appliances, substantially as described, whereby said brake-beams may be moved toward or from the car-wheels by the movement of the long arm of said brake-lever in one direction, substantially as set forth.

rated edge c and the brake-rod Dlhaving one end connected to said edge e and movable thereon to either side of the bolt 15, by which said lever is pivoted to the brake-beam, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination, the brake-beams w m, the brake-rod D, the brake-lever b, and chain 2', substantially as set forth.

DANIEL P. PRESCOTT.

YVitnesses:

H. A. GHAPIN, J. D. GARFIELD. 

